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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900404">Fault</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaP/pseuds/PaP'>PaP</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Sonic the Hedgehog (IDW Comics), Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Camping, Coping with the feeling of being less than them, Everything is Beautiful and Everything Hurts, F/F, Intimacy, Nature, Older Characters, Romance, Self-Acceptance, Self-Discovery, Sexual Tension, Sexuality, Threesome - F/F/F, Wanting to be like them or is it wanting to be with them</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-04-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-05-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-02 17:21:07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Mature</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,360</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23900404</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaP/pseuds/PaP</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>She'd fall in love with the both of them. Together, she'd fall alone.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Tangle the Lemur/Whisper the Wolf, Tangle the Lemur/Whisper the Wolf/Jewel the Beetle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Aging habits</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I love you.”</p><p>Tangle stops stacking the little smooth stones – imagined as a sentry tower, so that the tiny people she’s also imagined into being will know if there are any invading imaginary forces coming from this side with imaginary wishes of ruining imagined parties – and looks up, her smile so bright and genuine that it makes the world pale and papery by comparison, like her smile is the only thing that isn’t ultimately made up.</p><p>Whisper has begun to say those words so casually, these last few months, sometimes without any real provocation. And her smile is real, too, as is the sweep of her happy tail that wags back and forth tirelessly, its pace increasing whenever those amethyst eyes are upon her, until her entire body trembles with eagerness to greet and be greeted in turn.</p><p>“I love you, too, you sweet little biscuit.”</p><p>The wolf sighs, shivering into the lemur’s gently prodding, calloused fingertips, Tangle currently feeling the shape of Whisper’s snout and teeth intimately, the contours already written to memory in the heart’s engraved history, thus this is simply a luxury taken, but not for granted, not without the eternal bruise that is the concept of loss, once experienced so painfully by them both.</p><p>“How’s the wall going?”</p><p>“S’good.”</p><p>“Mmyeah?”</p><p>Distracted, the wolf has unknowingly toppled a segment of the tiny wall with her resting arm, leaning, as she is, deeper into the lemur’s fondling grasp until chin rests in palm and lips meet with the little black nose at the farthest end.</p><p>“I think you’re lying to me, my dearest.”</p><p>Whisper’s lips withdraw, showing amused teeth.</p><p>“Oh, you cheeky…” Tangle kisses her again, more leisurely this time. “Beautiful…” Unknowingly, she topples the tower when her lips trail further along and she drags herself forward on her elbows, her belly, into the other woman’s mirroring pose.</p><p>“We’re destroying it,” the wolf murmurs just before their lips meet.</p><p>The lemur sighs through her nostrils, then releases slowly, in inches of given flesh, submissive, to utter, “Oops,” against carnivore’s smiling teeth.</p><p>They kiss again. And again.</p><p>“Their civilisation.”</p><p>Conversation continues, careening between push and pull of mouths, words stumbling over woven tips of tongues, until language is distorted, but they understand.</p><p>“It’ll be gone, soon, if we don’t…”</p><p>“A natural disaster happened.”</p><p>“Is that what it is?”</p><p>“Yes. That’s what we are.”</p><hr/><p>“D’you think she’s noticed?”</p><p>Jewel is seated on the edge of the earth, her legs dangling, feet churning the cool water back and forth, gently. Everything about her is gentle. The sun glows warmly upon her cool shell, dappled by the leafy canopy of bent trees overhanging parts of the lake.</p><p>“No, love, I don’t think she has.”</p><p>“Do… you want her to?”</p><p>“I dunno. Might be easier. And she is my best friend. I hate lying to anyone, but to her, it’s hell, inside, always burning and guilty.”</p><p>“Then we should tell her.”</p><p>Tangle turns slowly, sincerely anxious, placing her hand on Whisper’s. “But what about you?”</p><p>“I don’t mind.”</p><p>“You’re sure?”</p><p>“I know I love you.”</p><p>“I love you, too.”</p><p>“And I know that. And we love her. So,” the wolf murmurs with an easy-going smile that makes it seem so wonderfully uncomplicated, “why would I mind?”</p><p>“Then, we’ll tell her.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Tonight?”</p><p>“Tonight.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>United, they rise together and stroll side-by-side, holding hands, over to the beetle.</p><p>“Heya, lovebug, how you liking the water, so far?”</p><p>“Oh, it’s wonderful, dears.” A playful kick sends out a glimmering ark of inconsequential destruction that mottles a tiny stretch of the calm surface with agitation that’ll end, soon. “Most refreshing!”</p><p>Tangle and Whisper’s fingers remain joined until both their hands, unfurling together and spreading their palms, their fingers, meet with the smooth shell that protects the back of Jewel’s skull.</p><p>“I think I’ll put on that dreadful costume and have a swim, just now.”</p><p>"C'mon, Jewel, it's not dreadful and you'll look great in it!"</p><p>"What was I thinking, making that purchase?"</p><p>"You have a beautiful body and you wanna show it off, sometimes, that's what!"</p><p>"Be brave.”</p><p>"I'll try, Whisper, but bravery won't magically make me-"</p><p>"I believe in you, Jewel."</p><p>“Count me in!"</p><p>"Oh, girls. You're wonderful."</p><p>"You're both gonna be so friggin' hot. Not gonna lie. Though, I don’t have a cute costume, nor am I blessed with the looks of a total bombshell, unlike you guys, so… if anybody's gonna look dreadful... Weeell...”</p><p>"Hush."</p><p>"You're cute in anything you wear, Tangle. Honestly!"</p><p>"Aw, you guys."</p><p>Here, their hands parts ways, barely, their fingers spread among themselves over the iridescent, smooth, firm surface, deepening the embrace.</p><hr/><p>Tangle is forced to recognise her sexual self, at times, in addition to the inner romantic, the heroine, the friend, the fool, and she faces it again as Whisper emerges from their tent in something that embraces her, clinging to her skin even when dry, built to minimise the water’s resistance whilst defining the womanly form beneath, its dips and swells, the scars and blemishes, all her fur and her skin.</p><p>“D’you like it?” the wolf asks softly, when she’s closed the distance enough for her breath to be hot on the lemur’s awestruck face.</p><p>“Dude, I absolutely love it.”</p><p>“Wanna feel me?”</p><p>Tangle evidently wants nothing more, but she turns to the other tent, anxious and excited.</p><p>“She’s still in there, busy.”</p><p>“Yeah…”</p><p>“I think I heard her.”</p><p>“I trust your ears.”</p><p>“Trust these, too.”</p><p>Amethysts dart ahead, discovering an expression that can only be considered sultry, then down, watching with widened joy as calloused hands are lightly taken by clawed alternatives, larger and wiser and more experienced, guiding slowly.</p><p>“I’ve been thinking.”</p><p>“Yeah, you always are. I love that about you. I love your thoughts.”</p><p>“S’different, this time.” Along Whisper’s firm, knotted belly, along her ribcage, those hands are being guided, ascending achingly slowly, so close.</p><p>“How?”</p><p>“I’m ready, now.”</p><p>This aching slowness only makes the ascension feel like the cloudy underside of heaven has been breached, palms and instinctively cupping fingers bracing themselves beneath this velvet guidance, which falls away slowly to reveal the wolf’s breasts are in the lemur’s inexperienced hands, so naturally, so easily, such a slow instruction.</p><p>“When we’re alone, later…”</p><p>Tangle swallows and her heartbeat thunders against the cotton of her oversized tee-shirt, as she gives Whisper’s breasts a cautious, gentle squeeze, garnering a smirk for her efforts.</p><p>“Tonight, in our tent…”</p><p>The lemur blushes as she reconfigures her fingers and palms, allowing for her thumbs to trace the firm outline of the wolf’s anticipation, making her shudder, with a noise like a muffled, buried growl, deep inside.</p><p>“You’ll take me.”</p><p>The heartbeat descends into the hot, virgin place between Tangle’s thighs, lithe legs projecting from her loose, tomboyish shorts, buckling at the knees.</p><p>Whisper quickly catches her by the middle and eases their bodies together, an embrace, it would seem, as Jewel cautiously emerges from her tent.</p><p>"You're so beautiful..."</p><p>"You're a miracle."</p><p>“Um, girls?”</p><p>The lemur knows when to be discrete, reluctant though she may be, taking her hands back and allowing the wolf’s hold to loosen into something more companionable, both turning to smile their differing, fond smiles at the beetle.</p><p>“How do I look?” Jewel means this question. She wants to be approved of. Wants to be able to stand among the handsome Tangle and the beautiful Whisper as some sort of acceptable, boring in-between.</p><p>“Dude!” The lemur would never accept such dishonour, throwing a hand melodramatically forward and jabbing her thumb toward the sky. “Fuckin’ sexy!” she bellows, honest, and the trees echo her sentiment.</p><p>“Really?”</p><p>“Really!”</p><p>“It’s… not a little…”</p><p>“You look fantastic! Come over here! Let’s fuss with you!”</p><p>The wolf whistles with enthusiastic volume and length, also, heralding the beetle as she, with renewed courage, approaches them with far more of her body revealed than her typical suits would allow, folded arms untangling gradually until falling away, baring what little they hid.</p><p>“Damn, you’re a treasure, pal, you really are!”</p><p>“Heh. Nice.”</p><p>“Aw, stop teasing me, you guys, I'm gonna melt!”</p><p>“Just look at you! Wow, what a woman.”</p><p>“Well, just look at Whisper.”</p><p>“She’s magnificent. But so are you. And right now...” Tangle doesn’t betray herself, but she doesn’t entirely lie, taking Jewel by the chin and tilting back her head, leaning in to compensate for differences in height as lips meet with the brow of that smooth, iridescent carapace. “I'm too distracted by you.”</p><p>“Looking at you.” Clawed fingers trail a naked arm, reassuring. "Me, too. You're so beautiful."</p><p>“You girls really think so?”</p><p>“Yeah, darling, we sure do.”</p><p>“I could eat you, whole.”</p><p>“Damn, Whisper, maybe Jewel’s gettin’ you a little bit too worked up, know what I mean!”</p><p>The beetle giggles below the lemur’s resting jaw, arm extended to allow the wolf’s exploratory touch.</p><p>It's pleasure and desire, all of it, so much of it misread.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fuck's sake, my arms hurt all the time</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Tangle sprints ahead, laughing.</p><p>Jewel and Whisper are more cautious than that, the wolf following next in line, the beetle some steps behind.</p><p>With the muscular aid of that miraculous tail, a perfect complement to the natural elasticity of the lemur’s lightweight body, she thrusts off of the ground and thus takes a powerful leap over the edge of the world, twisting nimbly to redirect herself, confident in her abilities, sinking into the water like an arrow in flesh, without a thought as to how cold or stinging it could be, smile growing strained, but it’s okay, because her friends can’t see that, here.</p><p>Whisper draws to a calm stop at the edge of the world, preferring to do this more methodically, but she hesitates even then, waiting, with Jewel joining her alongside.</p><p>The lemur screams, but her voice is swallowed by bubbles and she twists again, kicking fiercely, tail propelling her away from the depths and the dark, something metallic gleaming down there, where so little sunlight dares to reach, her fingers clawing for the rest of that shimmering light above.</p><p>“Here she comes,” says the beetle, leaning companionably beneath the wolf’s caressing palm, and suddenly Tangle bursts to the surface, her gasp shuddering and erotic, Whisper’s hand weighing a little more heavily on Jewel’s smooth head, as if communicating something from the edge of their world.</p><p>“How is it?” is the wolf’s teasing, soft-spoken enquiry, carnivore’s teeth framing it.</p><p>“Gnnnaaah!”</p><p>“Sorry, dear,” comes the beetle’s amused, apologetic addition. “I should’ve said something, sooner. It was pretty cold on my feet, but–”</p><p>“N-no, no, no! It’s great, r-really!” An attempt at a casual laugh. “Good ol’ shock to the s-s-system, n’all!”</p><p>“Uh-huh.”</p><p>“Come on in, l-ladies!” Bare, calloused hands clasp roughly at the sensitivity of small, pert breasts, an effort to protect raw nerves beneath the lemur’s loose tee-shirt, almost translucent and ballooning with air in some places, whilst sinking and spooling  and spreading about her narrow torso, like a halo of white fabric below the surface. “Water’s j-just fine!”</p><p>“She does make this seem very inviting, doesn’t she?”</p><p>Whisper smirks and gives Jewel a fond pat, the equivalent of a wink, then lowers herself to sit gracefully upon the edge of the world in the beetle’s shade, the wolf allowing her feet to slide in slowly, sensually, up to the ankles, fanged snout twitching as she sucks air in, then lets it out.</p><p>“I guess being cold blooded made me more resistant. Sorry, girls.”</p><p>“Don’t be sorry, d-dude.”</p><p>Nimbly hefting herself over and balancing upon her strong arms and curving back, she allows more of her long, shapely legs to gradually submerge, the water reaching her knees from this raised part of the land, chosen as a fun springboard for a jump, now reconsidered but viewed as a physical challenge for an aging mercenary. “Everyone’s tolerance is different.”</p><p>“Yes, that’s true, but still.”</p><p>She stops here, needing some time to relax her tensed lower muscles, leaving herself dangling, like this, whilst her upper body burns, enjoying the exercise.</p><p>“Goodness, I forget how athletic you are.”</p><p>“Thanks.” She’s flushed with their eyes upon her, safe and confident with these two women, her only true friends.</p><p>“I wish I could do that.”</p><p>“Haven’t had much practice, lately, but… If you want, we could, maybe?”</p><p>“I’d like that.”</p><p>An exchange of smiles, conveying something special, almost private.</p><p>"C'mon, t-tough guy, hurry up!"</p><p>"Gimme a second."</p><p>"You've h-had plenty of seconds! Gonna get tired, girl! Even you!"</p><p>"Shush."</p><p>"The longer y-you take, the h-h-harder it'll e-end up being, letting go!"</p><p>"I'll bite you."</p><p>“Later, darling. In the meantime, I can m-make it easier for ya!”</p><p>“Think so, mm?”</p><p>Jewel wonders if they even realise that they’ve taken flirtatious tones with each other, again, strained by their circumstances. She’s preparing herself to enter the water, too, preparing to abandon this edge of her world, a mostly mental process for a woman like her, protected as she is by natural armour, distracted as she is by the fluttering below her navel and the other bodies under her sight.</p><p>“Trust me, darling.”</p><p>"Nope, not one bit."</p><p>"D-don't be like that!" Tangle playfully swims toward her intended target, still shivering, her tail eerily serpentine. “Y-you’ll be used to it in n-no time, with my help.”</p><p>"You're planning mischief."</p><p>"Of course!"</p><p>Rosy eyes widen upon the lemur when she unclasps her own breasts. “Oh, god.” Then narrow, rosy eyes following the groping trajectory of those palms, setting upon the wolf, who mewls. Then squeeze shut, rosy eyes, rolling in sockets in response to a growl and a giggle and wetter sounds.</p><p>“Tangle!”</p><p>Jewel pants and forces herself to look, rosy eyes opening just in time to see Whisper toss her head back with hips bucking aggressively and shoulders collapsing partway, yet she remains precariously poised with Tangle’s icy palms laid firmly on her bare, tanned thighs, squeezing and rolling flesh. And it seems so obvious, now, it's almost mocking.</p><p>“See?"</p><p>"That's, ugh, freezing!"</p><p>"You’ll be used to it in n-no time, if you let me catch you!”</p><p>“Y-you… cute little… a-a-asshole…”</p><p>“We’ll, y’know, keep e-each other w-warm.”</p><p>“I f-fucking love you.”</p><p>“Love you, too. C’mere.”</p><p>“Okay. Catch me, th-though.”</p><p>“I promise.”</p><p>“You’d b-better, or I’ll kick y-your ass.”</p><p>“Kinky! I like.”</p><p>"C-catch me, Tangle."</p><p>"Let go, Whisper. I'm r-right here."</p><p>The wolf deliberately slips and falls into the churning coils of the lemur’s tail, calloused palms grazing upward to capture that fanged grimace, arms thrusting about the translucent shoulders of an oversized tee-shirt to deepen their embrace, both women drawing warmth from each other, as promised, kicking together to stay above the water.</p><p>The beetle has been quite forgotten about and this bothers her, yet delights her, and she’s aroused whilst feeling intensely angry and sorrowful and confused, catching herself on her own knees as something electric surges through her body again, and again, leaving her seeking breath for however long. She doesn’t know.</p><p>They're laughing.</p><p>“Jewel?”</p><p>She jerks, blinking, realising that Tangle is smiling up at her, but it’s a worried smile, and Whisper has turned, too, pleasant features hardened with mild-mannered concern.</p><p>“You okay up there, bud?”</p><p>“You’re… not shivering, anymore.”</p><p>“That’s ’cause Whisper’s keeping me warm!”</p><p>“Only because you’re keeping me warm, Tangle.”</p><p>The lemur returns to the wolf for a brief nuzzle, then gives the beetle a loving frown.</p><p>“I’m okay."</p><p>"You sure?"</p><p>"You don't look okay."</p><p>"Sorry. It’s nothing.”</p><p>“Jewel, darling.”</p><p>“Really, carry on.”</p><p>“Are you feeling unwell?”</p><p>“Um. Sort of. Not really.”</p><p>“Do you wanna lie down?”</p><p>“No. I’m… Just…”</p><p>Tangle and Whisper unravel themselves and swim back to the edge of the world.</p><p>“Please, don’t worry, go ahead.”</p><p>"Nuh-uh."</p><p>“We’re not gonna just leave you high and dry all by yourself, pal.”</p><p>Jewel is small and unworthy, these two superior women pulling themselves out of the water and rising upon the shore for her, when she's not needed, their bodies desirable and expressions tender, and she tries not to betray herself as cold hands settle warmly upon her shell, her arm, fondling her in their friendliness.</p><p>“What’s up?”</p><p>“I’m sorry.”</p><p>"You did no wrong, to us."</p><p>Ashamed, now, the beetle allows the lemur to pull her between herself and the wolf, like two trees sheltering a stump. “I’ve ruined your fun.”</p><p>“Don’t say that.”</p><p>“S’untrue."</p><p>"Yeah. You're a huge part of our fun.”</p><p>“I’ve ruined the whole day. Why am I being difficult?”</p><p>“Nonsense!”</p><p>"Can't always keep things that hurt to yourself. Tangle taught me that."</p><p>"And Whisper's still a total badass for it. Don't be shy."</p><p>"Or scared."</p><p>“All the confidence you guys gave me, it’s all gone."</p><p>"Is it the costume? Because I love your body, dude."</p><p>"S'perfect."</p><p>"Whisper wants to eat you up, remember?"</p><p>"You look delicious."</p><p>"You guys are so good to me. But… I’m being mean…”</p><p>“What?! You, mean? Never!”</p><p>“Impossible. You’re the sweetest, kindest, nicest person, here.”</p><p>“We’re nuts about ya!”</p><p>“We don’t judge you.”</p><p>“We love you.”</p><p>“Then, why?”</p><p>“Why what?”</p><p>“Why didn’t you just tell me?”</p><p>Tangle gives Whisper a meaningful look, blue slits replying just as silently, yet communicatively.</p><p>"Were you worried about what I'd think? That I wouldn't accept it, wouldn't accept you? Is that the sort of intolerance I'm suspected for?"</p><p>"Jewel, we didn't-"</p><p>“Maybe I am just overreacting. Everyone’s allowed to keep their secrets. I don’t… God, that’s just it, see? I’ve been so stupid and I’m a little disappointed in myself for not seeing it, sooner, when you’re so important to me and I’m supposed to be more considerate of you two, more supportive and loving, but I've been so wrapped up in paperwork and I neglected my role as your friend."</p><p>"You're beating yourself up for absolutely no reason, darling, please!"</p><p>"Even though all the signs were there, this… honestly, comes as a bit of a surprise, but not really. Weird, right?”</p><p>“Jewel…”</p><p>“But you didn’t say anything. You don’t owe me an explanation. For months, though, this has been going on without me, yet it’s been happening around me, hasn’t it? An unspoken romance. You’d hang out with me but I always felt a little excluded by something you wouldn’t say and you love to run off and do your own thing, together. And maybe I wouldn't mind it as much, now, except you hid it from me. Like, that makes me feel a little monstrous, don't you understand?”</p><p>“We’re sorry. Didn’t mean to. Don't be sad."</p><p>"Please. You're not a monster. You're our best friend. Don't you ever call yourself a monster."</p><p>"I have no right to demand answers. I'm just hurt that you didn't give me any, that I had to stupidly take so long to figure it out, myself, when it really was so obvious. And now I’m being mean."</p><p>“We were gonna tell you. We were even planning on doing it, tonight. I hated hiding, but-”</p><p>"Tangle was trying to pace herself, for me. S'my fault."</p><p>"Whisper, it is nobody's fault! Jewel, we're sorry, but now you know and I know you love and accept us all the same as before, because you're that kind of friend - the best kind!"</p><p>“I always suspected, but I didn’t know. I didn’t outright know anything. And now I do and I’m sorry."</p><p>The embrace has become smothering, kisses and nuzzles deposited all over, sometimes blind to where they'll land.</p><p>"You’re such a… cute couple, honestly,” Jewel manages with Tangle's lips on the corner of her mouth, Whisper's soft hair cascading, ticklish, against the beetle's cheek. “I’m happy for you guys, too. Really. Congratulations!” Her voice breaks at the end. "I'm so, so happy for you."</p><p>The lemur and the wolf each receive a tight hug from below their chins, now, and from above the iridescent shell of a bowing head, they secretly look at each other.</p><p>“And I’ve made it all weird for everyone,” Jewel murmurs into their chests. “I’m sorry. Thank you for being so good to me.”</p><p>Whisper strokes the galaxy beneath her snout and Tangle nuzzles at the nearest antenna, still exchanging talkative looks.</p><p>“Actually, let’s all just, um, forget about my shitty reaction."</p><p>"It wasn't shitty. I understand."</p><p>"No, dear, I’m being an ass. Let’s start over.” With a polite cough the beetle hugs them tighter, then says, “Congratulations!" again, with more gusto. "I’m so, so happy for you two and I know you’ll make each other very, very happy, too. I'm grateful to have this pleasure of getting to know you and I’m looking forward to sharing my life with yours.”</p><p>The wolf and the lemur seem hardly convinced that everything is fine, but sense that it would be simply easier for everyone to let the issue rest, at least, for now, with easy-going smiles, gentle amethysts and worried blue slits for eyes hidden by a veil of tossed hair.</p><p>“Let’s go for that swim, shall we? I'll try not to embarrass myself. And who knows? Maybe there’s treasure, down there, somewhere.”</p><hr/><p>"An oddly pretty thing, isn't it?"</p><p>“Yeah. Wonder how long it was lost. How it even got lost in the lake, to begin with. Like, how does somebody do that?"</p><p>"Or was it thrown away? Then, why would someone throw it away?”</p><p>“Maybe it’s cursed or something.”</p><p>“Spooky.”</p><p>“Didn’t see a skeleton, so that’s my theory.”</p><p>“I’m glad for that.”</p><p>“Who did it belong to, do you think? Guessing a guy, since it’s kinda chunky, but hey, I’d wear a watch like this, so…”</p><p>Jewel lovingly brushes her hands over Tangle’s head to free amethysts from the sodden fringe, as the lemur rests her head upon the beetle’s lap, one woman seated at the edge of the world, legs dangling, the other still partway submerged, clinging to knees.</p><p>“Wouldn’t it be cool if Tails could get it ticking, again?”</p><p> “Yes, dear, it would be.”</p><p>With her free hand Tangle picks at the rusted timepiece she’d dredged from the depths of this quiet lake, slipping into still companionable, albeit heavier than usual, silence, wondering if things will ever be the same, with this wound so open and raw. It’s likely an immature concern, since adults tent to scar over time.</p><p>“What do you have behind your ear?”</p><p>“I dunno.”</p><p>“It’s slimy.”</p><p>“Yeah?”</p><p>“And green.”</p><p>“Cool.”</p><p>Chuckling weakly, Jewel peels the unpleasant thing away and tosses it back into the water, then resumes her attentive ministration, massaging her childhood best friend’s cool, damp scalp, happy to lend her lap if it means they can be close.</p><p>“That looks comfy,” is Whisper’s conversational interjection as she wades over, embracing a drowsy Wisp to her bosom, the others still venturing somewhere in the surrounding trees.</p><p>“Admit it.” The lemur’s tail playfully caresses the wolf’s chin in passing with a sopping tuft, unintentionally showering the Wisp below, complaints muffled by the caretaker’s chest. “You’ve been checking us out for a while. You want in on this cuddle.”</p><p>“Yes. May I, please?”</p><p>“Certainly. If this one will make some room.” The beetle tugs an ear gently. “My lap’s not the biggest, you know.”</p><p>Grumbling amiably, Tangle eases herself aside and continues to fiddle with the watch, affording enough space for Whisper to slip beside and turn around, leaning back with a sigh, her long hair let loose and tumbling damply over Jewel’s thigh.</p><p>“Teach me how to make a fire like you can, won’t you, survivalist?”</p><p>“I’d be happy to.”</p><p>“Because it impresses me every time.”</p><p>The wolf smiles into her Wisp, lifted like an infant before her face to block out the waning sun that’s already so broken along the treeline, the air pleasantly cool and the beetle’s hands wonderfully agile, perhaps having something to do with her incessant paperwork.</p><p>The lemur gives the watch a little shake, listening.</p><p>“Jewel’s lap s’the comfiest lap.”</p><p>“Sure is.”</p><p>“Oh, girls.”</p><p>“We love you.”</p><p>“I love you, too.”</p><p>And they're all so thankful, as there is much to be thankful for, when surrounded so intimately by such forgiving friends.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Pity me party</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“I am determined to get this right, eventually, but I’m afraid that it’ll be morning by the time I do, at this rate.” Jewel is dressed in something warm, now, something she will wear when she slides into her sleeping bag. She is on her knees before the kindling. She strikes the flint again, then sighs apologetically between her patient, smiling friends, similarly dressed. “And you’ll both starve overnight.” Rosy eyes narrow playfully. “You have no intention of going to your tent and leaving me alone with this, do you?”</p><p>“Of course not, pal. We’d never abandon you for anything.”</p><p>“We’re happy to wait with you.”</p><p>“Happy to starve, even!”</p><p>“Hush, we won’t starve.”</p><p>“We’ll just eat Jewel.”</p><p>“Hey.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>“Hey!”</p><p>“Her fault for looking tasty, n’all.”</p><p>“Damn right.”</p><p>“Actually, girls, I assure you, I won’t taste good!”</p><p>“You’ll taste great.” At the other shoulder, Tangle leans forward a bit, watching her best friend’s unaccustomed hands fumble, muscles underdeveloped and soft skin usually preserved in silken gloves.</p><p>“Really, girls.” A pause for another strike, with a feminine grunt. “Shit. I won’t give up.”</p><p>“We’re proud.”</p><p>“Sure are! Aaand… you’re so attractive when you set your mind to achieving something, for yourself…”</p><p>“Behave yourself, Tangle. C’mon! Light!”</p><p>“How d’you feel?”</p><p>“Well, Whisper, honestly, my hands hurt. And my arms are getting tired. But I am still determined to impress you guys.”</p><p>“We’re always impressed by you. Take a break.”</p><p>“Another one?”</p><p>“Yes. Another one.”</p><p>“You did this effortlessly, just like that, and I’ve barely managed a spark, dear, and after taking so much of your time and instruction, I refuse to rest, yet!”</p><p>“Don’t compare yourself to me.”</p><p>Rosy eyes flicker in the dim, flint suspended.</p><p>“You’ll have it.” Whisper strokes her student’s shoulder in a soothing way. “This experience. You’ll earn it for yourself.”</p><p>“Just gotta keep trying, like you have been!”</p><p>“But don’t exhaust yourself. S’pointless to push too hard. I would know. I fell apart.”</p><p>“And don’t hurt yourself on our account while trying to live up to expectations you thought up for yourself, in that pretty head of yours.” A gentle knock on a carapace, like it’s a door, to resume the still halted process. “Go on, another one.”</p><p>“Show that kindling who’s boss.”</p><p>“Hell, yeah, make fire, cavewoman!”</p><p>The beetle slowly lowers her hands, filled with sharp, hard, jagged flint, hurting.</p><p>The lemur and the wolf immediately become concerned.</p><p>“What’s wrong?”</p><p>“What you said, earlier. Nothing’s wrong with it.”</p><p>“What’s bothering you, then?”</p><p>“You said I’m attractive when I set my mind to something.”</p><p>“Well, yeah, sure.”</p><p>“And you said, I’m not like you.”</p><p>“Yes. You’re yourself. S’what makes you so wonderful. S’what we like about you.”</p><p>“Me, being myself. Then… I’m like me. And I’m attractive, when I try.”</p><p>“You’re attractive all the time, actually. I was just egging you on a bit, y’know, stroking your ego.”</p><p>“Seems I’ve been a near-total idiot for a long time.” Jewel sniffles, quite without meaning to.</p><p> “Is this about before? Because we–”</p><p>“I want us to forget about before. That was my mistake. Rather, my wrongdoing. This is about my terrible self-esteem which I could never quite get over. I’ve never gotten over myself. You two suffered for it.”</p><p>“We can’t forget, if you won’t let go.”</p><p>“You’re right. And I keep screwing up, but you’re still here and I still want to… ignite? Set something on fire. Not this. Something… else? I barely understand it, myself, even though it's the way I feel. Or the way I think I'm feeling. Goodness. How confusing.”</p><p>Whisper tilts her head and Tangle simply frowns her misunderstanding, unsure what to say without making a greater mess of a pre-existing mess, something nobody cleaned up for too long.</p><p>“I want to try. To do better for you, for me, too. But let’s not bring up before, again. It’s a horrible memory I will remember only so I can improve myself. Okay?”</p><p>“Um…”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“Yeah, okay.”</p><p>“Thanks, girls. As for this.” The beetle strikes again and groans up at the heavens, ever darkening, at another failure. “Assuming I manage a spark. Damn. I’m quite useless at this, but I’ll get it right, eventually.”</p><p>“We believe in you.”</p><p>“That means everything, dear. But if I don’t get a fire started for us in, say, ten minutes or so, please take over and do it for me. I can swallow my pride. I don’t have much to swallow.”</p><p>“Jewel…”</p><p>“Don’t worry, Tangle. I’ll resume my lessons tomorrow. I’ll try again and I’ll not give up in the long run, screw-ups and breaks aside.”</p><p>“Nobody’s perfect.”</p><p>“Yes. I’ve been complimented on my shell, how perfect people think it is, my whole life, and I’ve always felt very responsible, but also, inadequate."</p><p>"Why?"</p><p>"It's like the person beneath the shell isn’t worthy of it. I hate being complimented over and over for something that hardly encompasses who I am as a person.”</p><p>“But… you’ve taken such good care of me. That's not incompetence, that's, well, the total opposite! I'm the incompetent one! It's not easy, keeping me alive, but you've done it, always!”</p><p>“No, dear, I’ve simply loved you."</p><p>"S'admirable, still."</p><p>"Don't undermine what you've done for me, darling. My whole life, you've been here, for me. Keeping me alive."</p><p>"Thank you. But I can do better and I will. There are things that can still be attended to, between us.”</p><p>“We love you, too.”</p><p>“My dear girls. Sorry, for being unreliable, at a critical time, in crucial ways.”</p><p>"You've never been unreliable!"</p><p>“I said forget it. And we will, from this moment on. Let’s not mention my shitty reaction from before, again. Let’s start over, not from the beginning, because I wouldn’t throw our years of friendship, your months of romance, away for anything. But let’s continue, then, like a fresh start, almost, from a point of love and acceptance.”</p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>“Excellent. We’ll have a hot meal, yet. So, let me have just ten more minutes, then I’ll let you take over, Whisper, if I still fail. But I won’t be giving up. Just… taking that break, I guess. It’d be selfish to waste any more of your time.”</p><p>The wolf reluctantly nods her consent and the lemur loops her tail around her two best friends, conveying comfort in this way, rarely choosing not to use her words.</p><p>It feels like the same conversation, possibly with the same result, just refurbished to appear as something assertive and meaningful and new. Not some cynical, confused cycle. Not a coping mechanism of some kind.</p><hr/><p>“Well, I think I’m off to bed, then.”</p><p>Bellies full, the women are admiring the sky as much as they admire each other with their trailing fingers and pressing muzzles and resting shoulders, that tension between them as dark as the yawning night and as delicious as their late meal and as troubling as their thoughts.</p><p>One rises, finally, and brushes herself off. “Goodnight, girls.”</p><p>“G’night.”</p><p>“Nighty-night.”</p><p>“Love you.”</p><p>“Love you, too.”</p><p>“Sleep well. Sweet dreams.”</p><p>Jewel deposits kisses on their foreheads, then leaves them to each other, strolling quietly on bare feet toward her tent. She doesn’t see Whisper turn to Tangle, shifting a little aside to fill the space the beetle’s departure had left between the wolf and the lemur.</p><p>When Jewel bends a bit to lift the flap and peers inside, she finds that the Wisps have already made themselves comfortable and she smiles sadly. It’s her turn to sleep near them, tonight, allowing Tangle to spend the hours with Whisper in the other tent, which isn’t that far away but has enough distance to itself that it might help obscure some of the noises that have been emanating from within, soft sighs and husky giggles uttered over previous alternative nights. Suddenly, there is the thought of them having sex or doing other sexual things, together, in that other tent.</p><p>It makes the beetle briefly forget to breathe, and when she remembers, she’s in tears, again, and it requires effort to keep herself from sinking melodramatically.</p><p>And it makes so little sense, when the lemur has had girlfriends, before, and she has been discovered in compromising positions of self-pleasure, before, because the door was always open. Although she said they never went that far, her and the girlfriends.</p><p>The beetle cannot comfortably comprehend the the idea of her best friend letting the wolf, a former mercenary with a gentle manner about her, a good woman, worthy, have such carnal, sensual liberty. Pr even the chance of it happening. It is so strangely, erotically disturbing.</p><p>Alternating tents. Time to be alone, but not too much time, not too often, not too suspicious. The lemur and the wolf sleeping, talking, fucking in the same tent, a notion which has taken a more bittersweet purpose, now, as this was the arrangement from the beginning of their adventure, here, in their forested campsite by the lake, a very romantic location in retrospect. It's enough to question whether or not the best friend of the two best friends, is still a virgin, still innocent and untouched in that way, and why it even matters so much, now.</p><p>And Jewel had barely thought to question it, assuming that Tangle and Whisper simply enjoy being together so much, that they’d wish to continue it overnights, but the tents are not large enough to be accommodating for all three plus the Wisps, so they’d alternate. And yet the wolf and the beetle have not slept alongside, not once, save for dozing in the same space purely by chance, and not without the lemur’s supervision which never felt like supervision, before.</p><p>Stinging jealousy makes teeth grind, heart leaping with horror, that these feelings can be felt for such special, beloved people.</p><p>The Wisps hold each other from within their nest, under the light of the battery-operated lantern, unaware of this grief, this anger, this shame, this arousal, this utter confusion. And now, jealousy.</p><p>The beetle has felt aspects of ugly emotions, before. She's buried them, pretended they were never felt, and tonight, she's promised to try, to do better. She bolsters her fragile self and enters the tent carefully, seals herself inside, the other two women outside, talking quietly by the fire, and Jewel avoids attempting to listen.</p><p>This trip is intended to last some more days and the days seem like heaven, like hell, a place of isolation and beautiful women, two of them far outshining the one with a literally shiny shell.</p><p>She then moves deeper into the tent to claim a place for herself among the Wisps, sleeping bag already laid out, as is her book, and she’s kept her half of the tent meticulously tidy, as is expected.</p><p>A few sets of eyes open, despite her best efforts at being quiet in her state, greeting her with friendly recognition. They notice that their appointed caretaker does not seem entirely alright, lifting their heads, eyes silently enquiring, following her every move.</p><p>“I’m just very tired,” she lies easily, petting them one at a time, before she slides into place. She doesn’t reach for her book just yet, conversation still an unintelligible murmur outside, and she stares at the shadows on the ceiling of the tent, tree branches swaying, creaking, jagged and gnarled. That flint really hurt her hands.</p><p>One of the Wisps hovers free from its brethren and joins her, nuzzling into her chest, not ample like Whisper’s, not fluffy like Tangle’s, sufficient.</p><p>“Thank you, little one, that’s very kind.” Jewel can’t complain, stroking the Wisp on her chest, because she did promise she’d try to do better. But she can simmer, she can want, she can hurt, she can be angry and jealous and confused. And so she does, in the privacy that the Wisps afford her. She reaches for her book in the hope that it will be enough to distract her from at least that murmuring, because she can’t foresee sleep coming anytime soon.</p><hr/><p>“Not in the mood?”</p><p>“Not in the mood.”</p><p>“Me, neither.”</p><p>“I’m sorry, darling.”</p><p>“No, s’okay. Wouldn’t be right.”</p><p>Tangle sags where she sits, head turned in the direction of the other tent, the light still on. The wall isn’t thick enough to obscure that glow. Not when their own tent is submerged in darkness, meant to allow for intimacy without observation, but Whisper won’t do anything more than the usual, even if it was planned and agreed upon that tonight, she’d take the lemur’s virginity.</p><p>The wolf is sore, inside, her body less responsive to this attraction. She can wait for sex. She doesn’t mind that. But she doesn’t entirely know how to be comforting when her friends, one of whom she considers the love of her life, are going through things she has helped cause. She sometimes feels like she is harming them merely with her presence, first with Mimic, and now with this, and she burns with cold guilt just stroking the slender leg alongside her own.</p><p>“She must feel so alone, around us.”</p><p>“What can we do, to help?”</p><p>“Just be good to her.”</p><p>“We always try to be.”</p><p>"Include her."</p><p>"But we do. I thought so. Don't we?"</p><p>“You don’t know Jewel quite the way I do. She’s… very lonely.”</p><p>“She has you.”</p><p>“Even with me."</p><p>"She has me, too."</p><p>"And she loves you. But she’s been craving someone. Companionship. Satisfaction. And a best friend can only give so much, before it gets complicated.”</p><p>"Oh."</p><p>Amethysts swivel back, meeting gently with blue slits.</p><p>"Then, how do we include her?"</p><p>"I dunno."</p><p>"How can we be better?"</p><p>"I... don't know. I just know that I have you, and although she has the two of us, it's not the same. In many ways, she’s still the way she’s always been. We're the ones who changed.”</p><p>“S’my fault.”</p><p>"Are you in a relationship with yourself? No, my love. Were you the one who grew up knowing her? No. I'm the bad guy, if there's gotta be a bad guy.”</p><p>"You're not bad! Don't say that! I love you, the goodness in you!"</p><p>"And thank god for that." A calloused hand settles on a larger, clawed alternative, calming, in turn squeezing that narrow thigh beneath, reassuring. “Never blame yourself. Never regret being here, for us. I don't regret you, as much as I blame myself, because you just don't know Jewel like I do. And she does not hate you, not one bit, not at all."</p><p>"I want everyone to be happy."</p><p>"That's so good of you. You're so good."</p><p>"But I feel like I'm making trouble."</p><p>"No, no. Over the years, I’ve not paid it enough mind, the loneliness she feels. She’s never been one to voice herself very loudly and I can be so fucking deaf.”</p><p>"Has she never been with someone?"</p><p>"Never."</p><p>"Not by preference?"</p><p>"Can loneliness ever by preferable?"</p><p>"You're right. I should know."</p><p>"And I’ve always preoccupied her. Even the museum is largely about me, the memories I made with her, when she protected me all those adventures. How could she meet someone, with my lanky butt constantly endangering myself, taking her affection, her time, her love?"</p><p>"You can't really think you're at fault. She shared herself with me, too."</p><p>"She’s an incredible woman. Her capacity for love is amazing. But she's still alone, even with you and I around. Literally, I've left her alone in that tent."</p><p>"Do you wish to go to her? I can take the Wisps."</p><p>"I want that very much. What a villain I am, when all she did was let me live my life, putting hers on hold to look after me, and she was so used to it by the time I met Sonic, got to save the world, fell in love with you, that she almost knows no different. Doesn't see herself as capable of being sexy, charming, romantic. I fell in love and she didn't even know that."</p><p>"I'm so sorry."</p><p>Tangle turns back, slipping an arm around Whisper, kissing her briefly yet intensely, then murmuring, "Don't apologise," against her lips. "You did nothing wrong."</p><p>"But-"</p><p>"You belong here. With me. With her. You have every right to be here."</p><p>“Does she… resent me, secretly?”</p><p>“Nah, darling." Another kiss, another murmur. "Trust me. She’s very, very fond of you. Almost as fond of you as I am.”</p><p>"Really?"</p><p>"Really. Don't doubt her, now. Don't let me put any doubts in your mind."</p><p>“I just… I’m…”</p><p>"You're a cupcake. Sweet and soft."</p><p>"She's important."</p><p>"She wouldn’t pretend to love you. She’s just used to having me all to herself, though, even with you around for so long, and she’s used to taking care of me, because she grew up doing just that, so she neglected herself. But she was so happy when she got spoilt sweet with you, too. I just should've been honest with her. But you weren't quite ready and that's not wrong, either. It's hard on everyone."</p><p>"Are we... gonna break up?"</p><p>Foreheads crush together.</p><p>"Of course not."</p><p>Tears mix.</p><p>"Would it be better, if we did?"</p><p>Lips push and pull, almost burying the words.</p><p>"Don't rip me apart. If you go, you'll take at least half of my heart with you, and Jewel will be pissed."</p><p>"I'm just so sorry."</p><p>"Hell, me, too." The lemur eases the wolf onto her back, mounting, and instead of sex, there is smothered grief.</p><p>The animals hold each other.</p><p>"But she's young, I tell myself. She can... still find that someone. I can step back. But how can I? She won't like that. And we're not perfect, but... there's gotta be a way for all of us, I know it. And I... I hate myself, for not acting impulsively, for a change, when I just want so badly... to march into her tent and get into her sleeping bag.”</p><p>Whisper rolls them over, kissing Tangle's slender shoulder, and in the dark, whilst allowing the lemur the privilege of resting her cheek alongside, the wolf's predatory vision is always keen, watching the light go out in the other tent, the huntress' ears trained on prey's racing heart and uneven, emotional breaths.</p><p>“Give her a good ol’ cuddle. Fall... asleep, in her arms, like we always did. Wake up. She’ll… pretend to complain, because I stretch out in my sleep and squash her with my tail, sometimes. Doesn’t stop her... from using it as a blanket, a pillow. And... I admit it, I’ll probably drool on her shell, but… she doesn't mind."</p><p>“Please, don’t cry.”</p><p>"I'm a horrible best friend."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Her laugh</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Jewel rises slowly and stiffly from her tent, leaving the Wisps to sleep a while longer in the dim behind, opting to stay where it’s warm. She yawns into her dainty fist, the early morning light gleaming lovingly upon her shell, and walks with her gaze downcast, wiping the fatigue and that sticky residue of stale tears from her eyes. She hardly slept last night and does not look forward to today, but lying in the confines of the sleeping bag, trapped as she was within the tent with her thoughts, is close enough to unbearable that she’d prefer to fester inwardly in the beautiful outside.</p><p>“G’morning,” is the soft-spoken, pleasant greeting, yet it startles her.</p><p>“Oh!”</p><p>“Sorry,” Whisper murmurs, unusually unkempt this morning, and there’s a guilty weight to her smile that makes it seem a little forced. “Too early?”</p><p>“No, dear, I just… I forget that you’re the first to rise. Ahem.” The beetle attempts a casual grin, which hurts, and strolls over to the wolf. “Good morning.” Jewel said she would try, and she intends to fulfil that promise, if only she can.</p><p>Whisper pats the ground beside her, a timid invitation.</p><p>The beetle acquiesces, sitting gracefully.</p><p>The wolf would normally not be the first to say anything after the initial pleasantries, instead inviting the more talkative party to initiate conversation, and so it’s not unusual for her to wait in silence.</p><p>But Jewel doesn’t know what to say.</p><p>“Wanna try again?”</p><p>Rosy eyes avoid looking at that lupine face.</p><p>“Maybe get breakfast started. Mm?”</p><p>“Okay. Break’s over. I’ll give it another go, then.”</p><p>Whisper passes the flint and the knife used to scrape sparks into being.</p><p>“But we’ll likely end up with an early lunch,” the beetle says with a sigh. “Forgive my incompetence.”</p><p>The wolf chuckles softly, then purrs, “You’re not incompetent,” through fangs.</p><p>“Thank you, dear. Anyway. Here I go.” With a melodramatic grunt, Jewel thus resumes her efforts at lighting the campfire, trying not to allow frustration to mount, after all the other emotions and physical sensations have ravished her in turn, over and over, every time she turned her body in the sleeping bag and resisted the urge to reach for herself beneath her shuddering breaths, between her clenched thighs.</p><p>Whisper watches the untrained motions for a while, inwardly meditating on the things Tangle said, last night, eyebrows slowly setting themselves in an aggrieved frown as that struggle continues.</p><p>Minutes pass in silent, mutual brooding.</p><p>“Can I come closer?” is suddenly, softly asked.</p><p>“Hmm?”</p><p>“D’you mind if I move myself closer, to you?”</p><p>“Oh, of course, I don’t mind.”</p><p>“Like… behind you.”</p><p>“That should be fine. But why?”</p><p>“So I can… Um… I’d like to… Well…”</p><p>“Well?” The beetle isn’t sure why this is so endearingly frustrating, finally turning to forcibly smile up at the wolf, only for the smile to melt away in genuine affection, because Whisper abandoned her polite expression in favour of real emotion, and Jewel isn’t used to making another woman blush.</p><p>“Guide your… hands…”</p><p>“Guide my hands.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>The beetle feels like something of a brute, nodding gently.</p><p>The wolf waits for those rosy eyes to move away again, before shifting sinuously, fur rustling against fabric, then the smooth, perfect shell.</p><p>Jewel had resigned herself to being immersed in the futility of this task. But now she knows only the thrilling sensation of Whisper’s voluptuous warmth pressing in, a subtle heaviness of hair and muscle against a shielded back.</p><p>“I’ll just…”</p><p>Eyes widen upon larger hands that reach around, reaching from behind, gently capturing slender, fragile arms in a powerful, but careful grasp.</p><p>“Hold your hands. Okay?”</p><p>“Okay.”</p><p>Silky palms glide down to narrow wrists, claws raking delicately over ladylike fingers, encaging.</p><p>“And we’ll try again.”</p><p>“Together.”</p><p>“Yes.”</p><p>The beetle gasps as the wolf manipulates the flint, the blade, the hands that hold these tools, and effortlessly, a shower of sparks scatter like tiny, fallen meteors over the ash and fresh kindling.</p><p>“Like this.”</p><p>“Oh. Oh, wow.”</p><p>“You can do it without me, next time. But now, you know how it feels.”</p><p>“This feels… amazing.” The flint and blade fall softly between knees, smaller hands eagerly pressing deeper into the heat of silken palms, bared, gloves left behind.</p><p>“The fire will die without shelter.” Larger fingers interweave with the feminine alternatives. “We need to tend to it.”</p><p>And yet the women remain seated together, the smaller of the two almost occupying the other’s lap, sturdy thighs embracing an armoured, yet delicate figure.</p><p>“Whisper?” the beetle manages with a small voice, and the snout that settled against her cheek turns a little more, fangs moving toward her skin.</p><p>“Jewel,” the wolf breathes back.</p><p>But what does one woman say, to another, with the third – the lover, most probably – still sleeping, or pretending to sleep, in the neighbouring tent, without saying something inherently wrong?</p><p>“Thank you.”</p><p>Whisper nuzzles Jewel, but doesn’t let go, doesn’t drift away, not yet.</p><p>Rosy eyes flutter shut.</p><p>They moderate their breaths as one.</p><p>“I love you.”</p><p>“I love you, too, my dear.”</p><p>“I’m sorry for not… showing it, sometimes, as myself.”</p><p>“What do you mean? You’re very loving, all the time.”</p><p>“I realise, now. I’ve channelled my feelings for you, through Tangle.”</p><p>“Like… a mediator?”</p><p>“Yes. N’that was something she let me do, to help me pace myself.”</p><p>“That’s not something to feel sorry for, dear.”</p><p>“If you ever thought… that I don’t love you…”</p><p>“I never thought that. You’re closer to her than you are to me. That’s okay.”</p><p>“Is it?”</p><p>“You’ve said Tangle saved you, Whisper. Your falling in love was… quite natural. And after all I’ve said, after all I missed through my ignorance, how can I possibly expect to compete?”</p><p>“But I love you, too.”</p><p>“And I know that. You’ve never made me feel unloved. Just… I suppose, compared to Tangle, I’m a little distant, from you.”</p><p>“You don’t have to be. I just… I’m damaged.”</p><p>“Shh.”</p><p>“And I love you, Jewel. You’re precious, too. S’just that I–”</p><p>The beetle turns her face, too, managing an awkward, sincere kiss upon the length of the wolf’s snout, before nestling closer.</p><p>Whisper is thus promptly silenced, and with enthusiasm very rarely expressed so openly, she draws Jewel firmly against herself, so much smaller, so perfect to hold.</p><p>“I love you, too, dear.”</p><p>Blue eyes emerge, piercing through lashes, until two hands, still joined, caringly settle on the wolf’s cheek, causing that eye to slowly squeeze shut in some approximation of peace.</p><p>“Don’t worry about me,” the beetle reassures faintly, not quite honest, yet sincere.</p><p>The women share this embrace until they’re not alone, together, anymore.</p><p>“That looks comfy.”</p><p>They stiffen, but Tangle’s easy-going laugh, husky from sleep and drawing closer with every clumsy, ambling step, tells them that it’s alright to be discovered like this.</p><p>“Think there’s room for me, too, ladies?”</p><p>“Mmph.” Whisper wants to say yes, but she hesitates, for Jewel’s benefit.</p><p>“Of course, my dear.”</p><p>The wolf is rewarded with a caressing fingertip beside her fang.</p><p>“The more, the merrier, right?” the beetle says, mostly to herself, to convince herself of something that excites and scares and humiliates and delights her.</p><p>Then the luxurious fluff of the lemur’s tail entwines about their world.</p><p>And it feels like reconciliation. Like another milestone in a cycle of intimate misunderstandings and discoveries. Like there is a drop, as they careen from the edge of their world, and the fall may feel bottomless but inevitably it leads to a solid conclusion, an end that they are hurtling toward, together.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
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